A Visit to Diamond Point

Archive: July 23, 2013

[Editorial] The Pacific Northwest has long been a favorite region of mine in the flight simulation world. While I have had the opportunity to do a fair bit of real GA flying in North America, being up in the air in this particular region has been limited to Microsoft's Flight Simulator and Lockheed Martin's Prepar3D. Ever since the release of the Georender series of scenery add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, I have been a big fan of the numerous picturesque and quaintly set airfields of the Pacific North West.

Diamond Point Airport in the state of Washington was first added to Microsoft Flight Simulator scenery in 2002 through the release of Georender 3. A subsequent release of Georender 3 V2.0 made the scenery compatible with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004.

In late July 2011, 17 months after Orbx’s initial release of the wonderful FTX NA BLUE - USA Canada Pacific Northwest scenery package, Diamond Point Airport was back again and at last made available for FSX.

Back in the 1990s, I was very fortunate to visit the control tower of the now closed Meigs Field, having flown in and out of the simulated airport ever since Microsoft first released their flight simulation software. Being able to actually see a distant real world airport, one that I had by then only ever known in a virtual world, was an amazing experience.

Georender 2WA1 pictured below.

So on a recent trip to Portland and Vancouver, I thought it would be great to take a drive up to Diamond Point Airport and actually see the real airport.

The weather in the Pacific Northwest is rather unpredictable, particularly in the Portland area. Luckily the rain that accompanied us up Interstate 5 to Tacoma, disappeared soon after we drove past Boeing Field. After a short stop in Seattle, we headed up north to Edmonds and took the Puget Sound ferry over to Kingston.

The view of Appletree Cove as the ferry prepared to dock in Kingston was truly spectacular. We made our way up to the Hood Canal Floating Bridge and then headed north on U.S. Route 101, also known as the Oregon Coast Highway further south.

When I got out of the car on Airport Way next to Runway 29 at Diamond Port Airport, I was flabbergasted at how genuine and real the different scenery packages had portrayed this small airport and the surrounding area. The signs, the ambiance the overall character and mood, it was all there, just as I had imagined.

To top it all, the -Watch For Deer- sign next to the runway was actually endorsed by a group of deer grazing just north-east of Runway 29 along Diamond Point Road. Walking down Airport Way and looking at the individual houses and private hangars that surround the runway, I definitely felt that I had been here before, this was déjà-vu in a big way.

If you are ever in the vicinity of Sequim, I highly recommend a visit to this wonderful small airfield. And if you happen to be lucky enough to fly in, I can only imagine that the real-world approach is surely going to be one to remember.

I hope you enjoyd the photos from my trip to Diamond Point Airport and the FS9 / Prepar3D screenshots that D’André has furnished to offer you a comparison of the real vs. the simulated world we fly in.